K
ronomyth 3.0: PERMANENT WIRES. The third and final album from these underappreciated and undermarketed underdogs from on top (Canada) and down under (Australia). No Static was produced by Geddy Lee and engineered by Paul Northfield (one track was mixed by Terry Brown), so picking up a used copy of this for a few bucks was a No Brainer. The connection between Rush and Wireless is their label (Anthem) rather than shared musical sensibilities (i.e., no multipart suites about sorcerers, although the closing “Journey of a Possible Hero” has possibilities in prog’s realm). Instead, the band are good students from the school of hard rocks (Bad Company, Aerosmith, Foreigner), led by a sharp twin-guitar attack and sub-Paul Rodgers/Lou Gramm but still pretty good vocals. I think Geddy does a great job of capturing the band’s energy and appeal on record. The opening “Pay To Ride” really comes out swinging, then it’s on to the dreamy “Timekeeper,” and so it goes throughout No Static, alternating between 70s hard rock styles played at a high level. The only criticism I have is that this music was growing outmoded by 1980. Rock fans who were losing interest in Bad Company and Aerosmith weren’t about to get interested in Wireless now, no matter how good an album No Static was. Given the chance, the band probably would have made the right adjustments; instead, their fate was sealed as a three-album curiosity for connoisseurs of Canadian hard rock. The Geddy Lee connection will hopefully keep the flame alive long enough for someone to see that a posthumous best of Wireless is warranted.

TRACK LISTING

PAY TO RIDE (Allan Marshall) 2:50

TIMEKEEPER (Steve McMurray/Allan Marshall) 3:11

GO NAKED THROUGH THE WORLD (Allan Marshall) 3:17

ONE OF A KIND (Steve McMurray/Allan Marshall) 3:04

EAST OF THE SUN, WEST OF THE MOON (Steve McMurray/Allan Marshall) 4:18